title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
COMMEMORATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF DENIM DAY
WHEREAS, April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and
WHEREAS, according to national statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men in the United States (U.S.) are survivors of sexual assault; and
WHEREAS, the Illinois Crisis Centers serves an average of 10,000 survivors of sexual violence each year; and
WHEREAS, a survey from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control from the CDC reported that 43.6% of women in the U.S. experienced some form of contact sexual violence, and 23 million women in the U.S. are survivors of completed or attempted rape at some point in their lifetime; and
WHEREAS, according to the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey: only 230 of every 1,000 rapes are reported, only 46 of every 1,000 rapes lead to arrest, and only 5 of every 1,000 rapes lead to conviction in the U.S.; and
WHEREAS, for the past 20 years, Peace Over Violence, a sexual and domestic violence prevention center headquartered in Los Angeles, California, has hosted the Denim Day campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month; and
WHEREAS, the Denim Day story begins in Italy in 1992, when an 18-year old girl was raped by the 45-year old driving instructor who was taking her on her very first driving lesson. He took her to an isolated road, pulled her out of the car, removed her jeans and raped her; and
WHEREAS, after she reported the rape, the perpetrator was arrested, prosecuted, and convicted of rape and sentenced to jail; and
WHEREAS, years later, that conviction was overturned by the Italian Supreme Court using the "jeans alibi" - according to the justices, the woman was wearing tight jeans, therefore she must have helped the person who raped her remove her jeans, thereby implying consent; and
WHEREAS, the following day, the women in t...
Click here for full text